Beginning at Joshua 10:29 through Joshua 12:24, this
section of the Book of Joshua summarizes Israel's conquest of the southern
(10:29-43) and northern cities (11:1-15) in Palestine, and closes with a list
of the names of some of the kings whom Israel defeated (11:16-12:24). Since
there is probably a map of the conquest located in the back of your Bible, it
would be very helpful as you read these chapters.
Two things stand out in this record: It was the Lord who
gave the victory (10:30, 32, 42; 11:6, 8). “But the LORD said to Joshua,
"Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will
deliver all of them slain before Israel” (Joshua 11:6). “And the LORD
delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to
Greater Sidon…” (Joshua 11:8). Also, Joshua obeyed the Lord by utterly
destroying the enemy, just as Moses had commanded. “As the LORD had
commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He
left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.” (Joshua
11:15). The only exception was Gibeon.
Joshua's strategy was to cut across the land and divide it,
then conquer the southern cities, then the northern cities. On more than one
occasion, he made a surprise attack on the enemy (10:9; 11:7); and the promises
of the Lord encouraged him (v. 6; see 1:9; 8:1). In 10:29-35, you have the
record of the army fighting in the foothills; but in verse 36, the campaign
moves to the mountains. The northern coalition of kings was unable to defeat
Israel even though their army was much larger than that of the Jews (11:1-9).
The Anakim mentioned in Joshua 11:21-22 were a race of
giants, descendants of Anak, who were greatly feared by the ten unbelieving men
who had spied out Canaan (Num. 13:22, 28, 33). The two believing spies, Joshua
and Caleb, didn't fear them but had trusted the Lord for victory. Joshua's
victory over the Anakim is recorded in Joshua 11:21-22 and Caleb's victory in
14:12-15.
Thirty-three kings are named in Joshua 12, beginning with
Sihon and Og whose lands were east of Jordan and had been conquered under the
leadership of Moses (vv. 1-8; Num. 21:21-35). The sixteen kings defeated in the
southern campaign are listed in Joshua 12:9-16 and the fifteen northern kings
in verses 17-24.
From these chapters we are reminded that crossing the Jordan
and entering Canaan, the Promise Land, is not a picture of entering heaven. When
we get to heaven there will not be any more battles to fight. John tells us in Revelation
21:1-4, “…And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be
no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the
former things have passed away." While we are still here on earth, we will
have battles to fight with the “evil one”, the flesh, and the world. But we can
take courage and “not be afraid” (v. 6, 8), because we are promised that
the LORD has already determined that the enemies will be conquered by His power
when we obey and follow Him by faith!
And finally, Paul reminds us in Romans 8:31-39 “…If God
is for us, who can be against us? …Yet in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things
to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God Bless!
